TY - JOUR
T1 - The School playground environment as a driver of primary school children’s physical activity behaviour
T2 - A direct observation case study
AU - Graham, Michael
AU - Wright, Matthew
AU - Beretta De Azevedo, Liane
AU - Macpherson, Tom
AU - Jones, Dan
AU - Innerd, Alison
N1 - Funding Information:
No Funding is associated with this study. The authors would like to thank all volunteers who participated in this study; the primary school staff, pupils and parents. We would also like to thank the research and technical staff at Teesside University and Professor Alan Batterham for provided support with data analysis and provision of equipment during the data collection process.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/11/1
Y1 - 2021/11/1
N2 - The school playground can promote PA for large numbers of children. This study identifies areas of the playground that children visited at break-times, the decisions according to gender and the influence of contextual and environmental variables on PA levels. The playground of a culturally diverse primary school was observed during morning break-times and lunchtimes. Counts of sedentary, LPA, and MVPA episodes, and the contexts in which they occurred were recorded using the system for observing play and leisure in youth (SOPLAY). Ball sports areas had higher counts of boys (mean ± SD; 9.9 ± 4.8) compared to girls (2.0 ± 3.5); areas promoting climbing and social interaction had higher counts of girls (7.9 ± 7.2) compared to boys (3.5 ± 2.9). The proportion of MVPA episodes during break-times was 34% ± 26%. Areas of the playground with organised activities had 2.70 (95%CI: 1.87 to 3.91) times higher MVPA counts than areas “not organised”. Areas with “supervision” were associated with higher MVPA counts (1.34; 1.18 to 1.53) compared with “not supervised” areas. Organisation and supervision might influence PA choices and PA levels of children in the primary school playground. Further investigation is required to explore different playgrounds settings, and context and gender preferences.
AB - The school playground can promote PA for large numbers of children. This study identifies areas of the playground that children visited at break-times, the decisions according to gender and the influence of contextual and environmental variables on PA levels. The playground of a culturally diverse primary school was observed during morning break-times and lunchtimes. Counts of sedentary, LPA, and MVPA episodes, and the contexts in which they occurred were recorded using the system for observing play and leisure in youth (SOPLAY). Ball sports areas had higher counts of boys (mean ± SD; 9.9 ± 4.8) compared to girls (2.0 ± 3.5); areas promoting climbing and social interaction had higher counts of girls (7.9 ± 7.2) compared to boys (3.5 ± 2.9). The proportion of MVPA episodes during break-times was 34% ± 26%. Areas of the playground with organised activities had 2.70 (95%CI: 1.87 to 3.91) times higher MVPA counts than areas “not organised”. Areas with “supervision” were associated with higher MVPA counts (1.34; 1.18 to 1.53) compared with “not supervised” areas. Organisation and supervision might influence PA choices and PA levels of children in the primary school playground. Further investigation is required to explore different playgrounds settings, and context and gender preferences.
KW - play
KW - break-time
KW - recess
KW - observation
KW - MVPA
KW - Play
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107486030&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02640414.2021.1928423
DO - 10.1080/02640414.2021.1928423
M3 - Article
VL - 39
SP - 2266
EP - 2278
JO - Journal of Sports Sciences
JF - Journal of Sports Sciences
SN - 0264-0414
IS - 20
ER -
